There has been substantial growth in consumers accessing local content via mobile device since January 2010, according to a July 2011 study from the Local Search Association. Data from the State of Local Search study indicates 56% of respondents used mobile apps for local content in January 2011, up 34% from 42% in January 2010.
Local content users accounted for 33% of mobile subscribers, with 87 percent owning a GPS-capable handset (up 9 percent from the previous year).
Access of Local Content via Browser, SMS Falls
In comparison, 73% of respondents access local content via browser in January 2011, down 3% year-over-year from 75%, while 25% accessed local content via SMS, down 14% from 30% a year earlier.
IYP Users Less Likely to Purchase Online Coupons
Users of internet yellow pages (IYP) sites are less likely than users of other types of search sites to purchase online daily deal coupons for local businesses than business searchers on other sites. Twenty-seven percent of IYP site users report purchasing online daily deal coupons, about 29% less than the 38% of other search site users who report this activity.
Brand Recognition Key Driver of IYP Searches
In the survey, 58% of respondents who choose an IYP site first, like DexKnows, Superpages, Yellowbook and YP.com, do so due to brand recognition and reputation. The same percentage do so due to speed and accuracy. Nearly a third (30%) indicated they chose an IYP site first because of its reputation for local business information. Only 18% choose an IYP site first for convenience.
In contrast, 65% of those who choose another type of site as their primary search site do so for convenience, making them about 3.6 times more likely than IYP users to have this rationale. Other search site users are also about 24% less likely to choose due to brand recognition and reputation, while being almost 50% more likely to do so because of site attributes. The percentage of other site users citing speed and accuracy is almost identical (56%).
Unica: 4 in 10 Marketers Use Mobile
A little more than four in 10 (43%) marketers currently use mobile technology, according to a study conducted in Q4 2010 by Unica. Data from “The State of Marketing 2011” indicates another 25% plan to do so within the next 12 months, and 16% plan to do so in more than 12 months. Only 15% of marketers have no plans to use mobile technology.
